Vladlen was on channel 1 Federal TV with Rybar like every week. The levels of hate Murz and Strelkov directed at Vladlen is one of the few things I have to break ranks with them on. Vladlen was saying 75% of the same stuff they are, its just that they are banned from everything and he wasnt. Vladlen was saying peace talks are treasonous, good will is treasonous, he was saying Ukraine is a terrorist state, he was saying the SMO was a screw up from day 1, he was saying MoD needs to be cleaned out from the top etc.
Murz says Vladlen was just in it for money which might even be true but I gotta object and say so what? Thats the same main criticism he throws at Prigozhin and sure I doubt Murz is totally wrong but can we seriously say Russia would be better off without Prigozhin right now? Vladlen was actually in jail in 2014 in Donbass for money laundering when the war went hot. He was let out to fight which he did honorably enough by all accounts, was re-jailed sometime in 2016 for the original crime, than Zarchencko personally intervened on his behalf and jailed the guy that put Vladlen back in jail. Vladlen came from that shadier side of Donbass culture but unlike Murz I dont think that automatically means he is an outright bad actor. Since Vladlen was also in with Zarchencko and Strelkov hated Zarchencko that explains Strelkovs bad will well enough.
As someone who respects Strelkov, Prigozhin, Murz and Vladlen the mutual hate on the Russian side is pretty painful to witness. I personally also agree with the Strelkov/Murz take that the Russian elite is comprised to the point that victory is not even likely much less assured and Vladlens murder is solid evidence for that doomer thesis. It doesn't prove Vladlen was a gate keeper it proves that being on channel 1 and saying 75% of the same stuff Strelkov says will get you killed. Rybar is probably very strongly considering how much he wants to continue appearing on federal TV.
Vladlen was like Prigozhin one of those nationalize the means of corruption type guys which some Kremlinites can apparently stomach, but only as long as they don't catch any ears too high up the power ladder. Prigozhin is too hard a target for now unlike Vladlen. Murz and Strelkov are on the other hand pure idealist. I am to but would Strelkov and Murz really prefer that none of their suggestions what so ever be on channel 1?
Itโs really remarkable how the Kremlin seems to only want to pull up criminals and never idealists. Literally all of them have spent time in prison it seems like.
Well if its true that Putins info is filtered than the whole point would be to shut up people who might catch his ear. Dugin might be one such person no? Vladlin being on federal TV would be another. If Dugins posting is more restrained now perhaps he just got the message.
The criminals like Vladlen and Prigozhin have more access to power and influence but they accordingly take on more risk than someone like Strelkov. If you get to play the Byzantine political game you risk the the knives coming out for you. Strelkov and Murz being totally banned from everything is probably why they are still alive.
Where Dugin fits in there I cant say. Its probably just that Putin was aware of existence and the things Dugin was saying combined with that awareness on Putins part was enough to get him marked.
I agree that this is all very speculative. And it doesn't even make sense!
If Dr. Livci knows or suspects that Dugin and Tatarsky have had Putin's attention, then why do the Ukranians need a mole deep in the Kremlin to figure out the same thing? And why would the FSB risk alienating Putin by assisting the Ukrainians to kill his favorite authors?
Russia has now arrested and charged a young woman named Darya Trepova, who is said to be a Navalny supporter. The "Ukrainian special services" planned the bombing, according to Russia's "National Anti-Terrorist Committee". Doesn't this further undermine the thesis of FSB complicity?
The guy whose telegram post I quoted speculates that Dugin and Tartarsky were known to people in the leadership of the RF and they were saying stuff that might change the course of the war in Russias favor. Thus they were targeted by the Ukrainians with the complicity of treasonous elements within the Russian establishment. That much is speculative but if you have followed this blog long enough you would know its plausible enough and plenty of Patriotic Russians would agree.
That a high placed mole might be passing along info to help the Ukrainians pick targets "doesn't even make sense" also illustrates that you arent familiar with the rather common knowledge that Putins info is highly filtered. Apparently he doesn't even use the internet. But Tartarsky being on the federal channel might have caught his attention. So a mole could say "yeah the boss was pretty surprised but what this guy is saying and he is talking about addressing some of the issues he brought up". Not hard. The Ukrainians suspect and someone on the inside confirms.
As for "but what about how some Navalny supporting liberals were arrested for it". Bro. Who else would SBU use?
OK, now I understand what you're trying to say. And I'm with you as far as the idea that there might have been a mole. But, by the same token, I think you're admitting that the Ukrainians might have targeted Tatarsky on their own and without any help.
If indeed there was a mole, is that the same thing as "FSB complicity"? Would you argue that the executives of the agency should have the capability to detect all traitors, and that the agency is fully to blame if any such persons exist?
If the SBU worked with a Navalny supporting Russian to carry out this bombing, that seems like a plausible and complete explanation. It also seems plausible that the CIA had their fingers in the pie somehow.
Sure it might have been a purely SBU/Russian Liberal production. But consider that these kinds of hits take a lot of work. You gotta find and groom your Russian Liberal assets, get them to trust you and show up for work. You gotta make the bomb, you gotta get to know your targets habits, establish the time and place etc etc. Carrying out this sort of thing is a fairly serious investment.
So why Tartarsky? Why not Strelkov who has an even bigger Telegram following and more credibility amongst the Patriots? Hell why not Khodakovsky even? Khodakovsky also has a bigger following than Tartarsky did and he even has troops under his command again. Why not Sladkov?
The only answer that rings true to me is that while Tartarsky didnt have quite as big a following amongst harcore Patriots and nationalist as someone like Strelkov he was the face of the war for TV watching normies. Unlike Strelkov he could have been on Putin or at least some of his inner circles radar. And since Tartarsky was saying a whole lot of the same stuff Strelkov does thats exactly what made him dangerous not just to Ukraine but also the Kremlin Westernizers.
If SBU took out Strelkov it would be an enormous blow to Russian Nationalist. Way more than with Tartarsky. But SBU picked Vladlen instead. You are correct that there is no proof and its speculation but I personally would expect SBU to be going after people whose deaths would demoralise Patriots the most. But they arent actually doing that.
Dugina and Tartarsky being murdered has pissed people off but seriously why them? On the surface they arent that high value really. Again its whose ears they have that makes them dangerous to both the Kremlins 5th column and the Ukrainians. But how likely is it SBU deduced all that on their own? Just saying "well someone on telegram did so why not SBU" isnt an argument really because the dude I was quoting was putting the pieces together after the fact. Before these events I certainly wouldn't have come up with them as targets and I doubt anyone else would have either without knowing exactly who was listening to them. Thats where the mole comes in and why it's an important part of the theory.
As for FSBs direct complicity...thats much harder to prove I admit. Look Ill just straight up acknowledge that whenever anything bad is happening in Russia I assume them or another group of ethnic pornographers and lawyers is involved. Or both. But the fact is when FSB wants to get shit done they do. They were killing Chechnyan warlords who practiced top opsec with poisoned letters in the mail in the middle of nowhere. Maybe all those FSB guys have retired and the new crew really is just absolutely incompetent. IMO though its just more likely that protecting Russian citizens from SBU terrorist isnt their thing and they don't care. Furthermore protecting their privileged flow of information to the president is something they care about and Tartarskys commentary on the federal channel wasn't something they wanted to continue.
Thanks for the discussion. I'm getting an education here for sure. I don't read Russian, and I do believe that Rolo is the most trustworthy & unbiased of any blogger posting in English.
I never heard of Tartarsky, Sladkov, or Khodakovsky before. Maybe there's something in the archive.
If Tartarsky was "the face of the war for TV watching normies" doesn't that answer your own question about why SBU would see him as a high-value target? Maybe they care more about what "normies" think, than they care about "patriots"?
Your point about operational security seems relevant. I wonder how often these sorts of ops end in failure. Allegedly the security guards at Prighozin's cafe recognized that there might be a bomb in the little statue, but Tartarsky saved the day for the SBU by deciding to accept the gift from the cute 26-year-old honeypot.
Maybe they're trying every day to kill Strelkov and they just haven't succeeded yet? I'm sure you're right that protecting "patriot bloggers" is not the highest thing on the FSB's priority list.
Absolutely. Blinken promised revenge over the low level spook Gershkovich getting picked up. CIA/Ukraine/MI6 delivered. Retaliation which will come sooner or later. Hopefully not too much ink spilled over gee who could have done it. This whole 'war' is a game of spooks and spies agencies.
Apr 3, 2023ยทedited Apr 3, 2023Liked by Rurik Skywalker
The mind-blowing(* craziness does feel deliberately & cynically ramped up to 11. Ty for keeping your finger firmly on the pulse, and ty for keeping our sense-making machinery reliably supplied with freshest scoops cum sharp-witted takes!
Hereby a radical zoom-out: We sure could do way worse than be of good cheer ๐ For tomorrow is a fresh day, full of promiseโjust like it always has been, from times immemorial. Letโs not get lost in details, increasingly gruesome no doubt as they happen to come out.
๐จ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
Yesterday the Military Summary Youtube channel, towards the end of the video, showed the positions of the Russian defences along the line of contact in Ukraine. The area north of Mariupol is the weakest. Is this a 'cunning trap' to encourage the Ukrainians to attack towards what they most want to capture; or evidence of gross incompetence at the top, or even laying the basis for a peace deal wherein Russia accepts peace somewhat short of it's minimum objectives?
Excellent piece Rolo. Sounds like Russia tragically is as screwed up as the west and Putin has stepped on his own dick (as we say in the military) in many areas.
He better get his shit together. Or Russia will be screwed big time.
If this happens the only course left to save European Indo-Aryan civilization and people is to topple the 1% oligarchies with nationalist counter-revolutions and populist authoritarian ethnosocialist movements replacing the corrupt degenerate "liberal democracies". Keep writing and stay strong.
Andrei Martyanov's comment on this incident strikes me as so bizarre that I can hardly comprehend it. So I'm copying it here for your review:
--BEGIN QUOTE------
..before anyone starts comparing late Daria Dugina to this "blogger", they better get acquainted with his biography, including why he ended up in prison for robbery. But for people in the West who sympathize with early LDNR militias it must be understood that apart from heroism and dedication, corruption, money laundering and other unsightly things have been blooming in LDNR too. With the start of SMO, a huge number of military "correspondents" and bloggers, many of them originally from new Russia's oblasts, started to dominate "narratives", especially through TG channels.
What many forget that among those "patriots", many, including Tatarsky, have been involved in large money collection operations "for the front", and that once Russia started to tighten the noose around those "operations" the "feeding base" for this type of "activists" shrank dramatically. I omit here the fact that most of those "bloggers" and "voenkors" have zero military education and many are what Saker called them a "sixth column", and many are straight defeatists or, like low lives Sladkov or Podolyaka, are completely off the rails. Tatarsky fits perfectly this very same group, which has some serious issues between them in terms of monetary issues--competition. So, keep this fact in mind and, please, stop idealizing LDNR, where even today the remnants of the "old guard" are being removed due to their corruption and inability to get incorporated into Russia's administrative structures--a "heritage" of Ukraine. There is a reason why I do not read TG channels and bloggers, unless people ask to react, except for official TGs (e.g. Ministry of Foreign Affairs), or get information from people whom I know as extremely reliable, honest and professional.
-- END QUOTE --------
What sort of money laundering operation had Tatarsky been jailed for? Where was the money coming from? Was it going to fund LDNR militias? What was corrupt about this?
Is Martyanov snidely leveling an accusation that Tatarsky (and Sladkov and Podolyaka) are diverting funds to their own bank accounts, and is there any evidence to this effect?
Conversely, is there any evidence that the "money collection operations" have actually provided significant funds to the LDNR militias? Or do they get adequate resources from official government channels?
Isn't it true that these militias have been taking on the lion's share of fighting against the Ukrainians, both before and during the SMO? I find it disturbing that Martyanov thinks of the LDNR leadership as a "corrupt old guard" that is being replaced.
Well Vladlens friends have outright said he was in jail for "mistakes made in his youth" and Donbass really was a very corrupt straight Gopnick region. Its not at all outlandish that he was involved in some shady thug business. Whats ridiculous and outright laughable about Martyanovs comments is that probably well over half of Putins best buddies have done way worse than Vladlen. Yet Martyanov is a standard absolutely non critical Kremlin cheerleader. Tartarsky was just in it for the money you see but Gref, Miller and Abramovich are motivated by the legacy of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Alexander Nevsky admiral Kolchak with some Cherubashka thrown in.
Now when people like Strelkov or Murz go off about Tartarskys shady past and lack of pure intentions at least they are being consistent because they also have no time for the Kremlinites and their cheerleaders. There is no blatant hypocrisy involved. For Martyanov to get on a high horse over Tartarsky while acting like the Kremlin itself isnt infested by people ten times worse precludes anyone with any critical thinking facilities from taking Martyanov seriously.
Itโs is clear that the Kremlin had Vladlen Tartarsky kid, RIP. Even the pro Ukrainians on social media are pointing fingers to the Kremlin. Why canโt you admit it?
Kremlin elites care not for their misguided lapdogs, just more bloody gristle for the machine. That is why redpilled russians have no choice but to join Azov battalion... the demiurge ouroboros continues to eat his tail.
Nothing is real any more...very Jesuitical and in lockstep with the traditional Communist Party goals...create chaos everywhere and anywhere...senseless killing...make us all crazy trying to figure it out....sorry to hear about this senseless death but the truth will probably never come out
As many people, particularly Black conservatives are waking up to reality here in the US, the hammer is really starting to come down...too late??
Thanks for elaborating on the players in this. How far down the rabbit hole are we when we're talking about both sides, including the victim's ostensible side, having reasons to kill this guy?
If terror is the objective, then it would be the most unsuspecting "non-gangster gatekeeper dissident" whose violent death gives the pyschopaths more "bang for their buck." Proving no one is safe.
Posted this take yesterday so no bully to whoever has seen it but it makes the most sense to me:
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ, ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ฌ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐๐ถ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ฌ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ? ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ถ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ฌ๐บ ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ-๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด (๐๐๐) ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด. ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ถ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ฌ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ฅ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐บ, ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ...
https://t.me/t_artm/144
That is FSB likely was complicit.
Vladlen was on channel 1 Federal TV with Rybar like every week. The levels of hate Murz and Strelkov directed at Vladlen is one of the few things I have to break ranks with them on. Vladlen was saying 75% of the same stuff they are, its just that they are banned from everything and he wasnt. Vladlen was saying peace talks are treasonous, good will is treasonous, he was saying Ukraine is a terrorist state, he was saying the SMO was a screw up from day 1, he was saying MoD needs to be cleaned out from the top etc.
Murz says Vladlen was just in it for money which might even be true but I gotta object and say so what? Thats the same main criticism he throws at Prigozhin and sure I doubt Murz is totally wrong but can we seriously say Russia would be better off without Prigozhin right now? Vladlen was actually in jail in 2014 in Donbass for money laundering when the war went hot. He was let out to fight which he did honorably enough by all accounts, was re-jailed sometime in 2016 for the original crime, than Zarchencko personally intervened on his behalf and jailed the guy that put Vladlen back in jail. Vladlen came from that shadier side of Donbass culture but unlike Murz I dont think that automatically means he is an outright bad actor. Since Vladlen was also in with Zarchencko and Strelkov hated Zarchencko that explains Strelkovs bad will well enough.
As someone who respects Strelkov, Prigozhin, Murz and Vladlen the mutual hate on the Russian side is pretty painful to witness. I personally also agree with the Strelkov/Murz take that the Russian elite is comprised to the point that victory is not even likely much less assured and Vladlens murder is solid evidence for that doomer thesis. It doesn't prove Vladlen was a gate keeper it proves that being on channel 1 and saying 75% of the same stuff Strelkov says will get you killed. Rybar is probably very strongly considering how much he wants to continue appearing on federal TV.
Vladlen was like Prigozhin one of those nationalize the means of corruption type guys which some Kremlinites can apparently stomach, but only as long as they don't catch any ears too high up the power ladder. Prigozhin is too hard a target for now unlike Vladlen. Murz and Strelkov are on the other hand pure idealist. I am to but would Strelkov and Murz really prefer that none of their suggestions what so ever be on channel 1?
Itโs really remarkable how the Kremlin seems to only want to pull up criminals and never idealists. Literally all of them have spent time in prison it seems like.
But letโs say Dugin was the target by the fsb.
Why?
His posting style has changed since then. Grief might explain it. But he is also more restrained now it seems like.
Well if its true that Putins info is filtered than the whole point would be to shut up people who might catch his ear. Dugin might be one such person no? Vladlin being on federal TV would be another. If Dugins posting is more restrained now perhaps he just got the message.
The criminals like Vladlen and Prigozhin have more access to power and influence but they accordingly take on more risk than someone like Strelkov. If you get to play the Byzantine political game you risk the the knives coming out for you. Strelkov and Murz being totally banned from everything is probably why they are still alive.
Where Dugin fits in there I cant say. Its probably just that Putin was aware of existence and the things Dugin was saying combined with that awareness on Putins part was enough to get him marked.
Really really speculation. Why wasn't it the CIA or another agency doing it because Gershkovitz was seized just 2 days before?
I agree that this is all very speculative. And it doesn't even make sense!
If Dr. Livci knows or suspects that Dugin and Tatarsky have had Putin's attention, then why do the Ukranians need a mole deep in the Kremlin to figure out the same thing? And why would the FSB risk alienating Putin by assisting the Ukrainians to kill his favorite authors?
Russia has now arrested and charged a young woman named Darya Trepova, who is said to be a Navalny supporter. The "Ukrainian special services" planned the bombing, according to Russia's "National Anti-Terrorist Committee". Doesn't this further undermine the thesis of FSB complicity?
The guy whose telegram post I quoted speculates that Dugin and Tartarsky were known to people in the leadership of the RF and they were saying stuff that might change the course of the war in Russias favor. Thus they were targeted by the Ukrainians with the complicity of treasonous elements within the Russian establishment. That much is speculative but if you have followed this blog long enough you would know its plausible enough and plenty of Patriotic Russians would agree.
That a high placed mole might be passing along info to help the Ukrainians pick targets "doesn't even make sense" also illustrates that you arent familiar with the rather common knowledge that Putins info is highly filtered. Apparently he doesn't even use the internet. But Tartarsky being on the federal channel might have caught his attention. So a mole could say "yeah the boss was pretty surprised but what this guy is saying and he is talking about addressing some of the issues he brought up". Not hard. The Ukrainians suspect and someone on the inside confirms.
As for "but what about how some Navalny supporting liberals were arrested for it". Bro. Who else would SBU use?
OK, now I understand what you're trying to say. And I'm with you as far as the idea that there might have been a mole. But, by the same token, I think you're admitting that the Ukrainians might have targeted Tatarsky on their own and without any help.
If indeed there was a mole, is that the same thing as "FSB complicity"? Would you argue that the executives of the agency should have the capability to detect all traitors, and that the agency is fully to blame if any such persons exist?
If the SBU worked with a Navalny supporting Russian to carry out this bombing, that seems like a plausible and complete explanation. It also seems plausible that the CIA had their fingers in the pie somehow.
Sure it might have been a purely SBU/Russian Liberal production. But consider that these kinds of hits take a lot of work. You gotta find and groom your Russian Liberal assets, get them to trust you and show up for work. You gotta make the bomb, you gotta get to know your targets habits, establish the time and place etc etc. Carrying out this sort of thing is a fairly serious investment.
So why Tartarsky? Why not Strelkov who has an even bigger Telegram following and more credibility amongst the Patriots? Hell why not Khodakovsky even? Khodakovsky also has a bigger following than Tartarsky did and he even has troops under his command again. Why not Sladkov?
The only answer that rings true to me is that while Tartarsky didnt have quite as big a following amongst harcore Patriots and nationalist as someone like Strelkov he was the face of the war for TV watching normies. Unlike Strelkov he could have been on Putin or at least some of his inner circles radar. And since Tartarsky was saying a whole lot of the same stuff Strelkov does thats exactly what made him dangerous not just to Ukraine but also the Kremlin Westernizers.
If SBU took out Strelkov it would be an enormous blow to Russian Nationalist. Way more than with Tartarsky. But SBU picked Vladlen instead. You are correct that there is no proof and its speculation but I personally would expect SBU to be going after people whose deaths would demoralise Patriots the most. But they arent actually doing that.
Dugina and Tartarsky being murdered has pissed people off but seriously why them? On the surface they arent that high value really. Again its whose ears they have that makes them dangerous to both the Kremlins 5th column and the Ukrainians. But how likely is it SBU deduced all that on their own? Just saying "well someone on telegram did so why not SBU" isnt an argument really because the dude I was quoting was putting the pieces together after the fact. Before these events I certainly wouldn't have come up with them as targets and I doubt anyone else would have either without knowing exactly who was listening to them. Thats where the mole comes in and why it's an important part of the theory.
As for FSBs direct complicity...thats much harder to prove I admit. Look Ill just straight up acknowledge that whenever anything bad is happening in Russia I assume them or another group of ethnic pornographers and lawyers is involved. Or both. But the fact is when FSB wants to get shit done they do. They were killing Chechnyan warlords who practiced top opsec with poisoned letters in the mail in the middle of nowhere. Maybe all those FSB guys have retired and the new crew really is just absolutely incompetent. IMO though its just more likely that protecting Russian citizens from SBU terrorist isnt their thing and they don't care. Furthermore protecting their privileged flow of information to the president is something they care about and Tartarskys commentary on the federal channel wasn't something they wanted to continue.
Thanks for the discussion. I'm getting an education here for sure. I don't read Russian, and I do believe that Rolo is the most trustworthy & unbiased of any blogger posting in English.
I never heard of Tartarsky, Sladkov, or Khodakovsky before. Maybe there's something in the archive.
If Tartarsky was "the face of the war for TV watching normies" doesn't that answer your own question about why SBU would see him as a high-value target? Maybe they care more about what "normies" think, than they care about "patriots"?
Your point about operational security seems relevant. I wonder how often these sorts of ops end in failure. Allegedly the security guards at Prighozin's cafe recognized that there might be a bomb in the little statue, but Tartarsky saved the day for the SBU by deciding to accept the gift from the cute 26-year-old honeypot.
Maybe they're trying every day to kill Strelkov and they just haven't succeeded yet? I'm sure you're right that protecting "patriot bloggers" is not the highest thing on the FSB's priority list.
Absolutely. Blinken promised revenge over the low level spook Gershkovich getting picked up. CIA/Ukraine/MI6 delivered. Retaliation which will come sooner or later. Hopefully not too much ink spilled over gee who could have done it. This whole 'war' is a game of spooks and spies agencies.
The mind-blowing(* craziness does feel deliberately & cynically ramped up to 11. Ty for keeping your finger firmly on the pulse, and ty for keeping our sense-making machinery reliably supplied with freshest scoops cum sharp-witted takes!
Hereby a radical zoom-out: We sure could do way worse than be of good cheer ๐ For tomorrow is a fresh day, full of promiseโjust like it always has been, from times immemorial. Letโs not get lost in details, increasingly gruesome no doubt as they happen to come out.
๐จ It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
As in yesteryear, so today ยฏ\_(ใ)_/ยฏ
--
(* pun totally intended ๐คธ
Yesterday the Military Summary Youtube channel, towards the end of the video, showed the positions of the Russian defences along the line of contact in Ukraine. The area north of Mariupol is the weakest. Is this a 'cunning trap' to encourage the Ukrainians to attack towards what they most want to capture; or evidence of gross incompetence at the top, or even laying the basis for a peace deal wherein Russia accepts peace somewhat short of it's minimum objectives?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KimAu1uHwsc
Excellent piece Rolo. Sounds like Russia tragically is as screwed up as the west and Putin has stepped on his own dick (as we say in the military) in many areas.
He better get his shit together. Or Russia will be screwed big time.
If this happens the only course left to save European Indo-Aryan civilization and people is to topple the 1% oligarchies with nationalist counter-revolutions and populist authoritarian ethnosocialist movements replacing the corrupt degenerate "liberal democracies". Keep writing and stay strong.
Andrei Martyanov's comment on this incident strikes me as so bizarre that I can hardly comprehend it. So I'm copying it here for your review:
--BEGIN QUOTE------
..before anyone starts comparing late Daria Dugina to this "blogger", they better get acquainted with his biography, including why he ended up in prison for robbery. But for people in the West who sympathize with early LDNR militias it must be understood that apart from heroism and dedication, corruption, money laundering and other unsightly things have been blooming in LDNR too. With the start of SMO, a huge number of military "correspondents" and bloggers, many of them originally from new Russia's oblasts, started to dominate "narratives", especially through TG channels.
What many forget that among those "patriots", many, including Tatarsky, have been involved in large money collection operations "for the front", and that once Russia started to tighten the noose around those "operations" the "feeding base" for this type of "activists" shrank dramatically. I omit here the fact that most of those "bloggers" and "voenkors" have zero military education and many are what Saker called them a "sixth column", and many are straight defeatists or, like low lives Sladkov or Podolyaka, are completely off the rails. Tatarsky fits perfectly this very same group, which has some serious issues between them in terms of monetary issues--competition. So, keep this fact in mind and, please, stop idealizing LDNR, where even today the remnants of the "old guard" are being removed due to their corruption and inability to get incorporated into Russia's administrative structures--a "heritage" of Ukraine. There is a reason why I do not read TG channels and bloggers, unless people ask to react, except for official TGs (e.g. Ministry of Foreign Affairs), or get information from people whom I know as extremely reliable, honest and professional.
-- END QUOTE --------
What sort of money laundering operation had Tatarsky been jailed for? Where was the money coming from? Was it going to fund LDNR militias? What was corrupt about this?
Is Martyanov snidely leveling an accusation that Tatarsky (and Sladkov and Podolyaka) are diverting funds to their own bank accounts, and is there any evidence to this effect?
Conversely, is there any evidence that the "money collection operations" have actually provided significant funds to the LDNR militias? Or do they get adequate resources from official government channels?
Isn't it true that these militias have been taking on the lion's share of fighting against the Ukrainians, both before and during the SMO? I find it disturbing that Martyanov thinks of the LDNR leadership as a "corrupt old guard" that is being replaced.
Well Vladlens friends have outright said he was in jail for "mistakes made in his youth" and Donbass really was a very corrupt straight Gopnick region. Its not at all outlandish that he was involved in some shady thug business. Whats ridiculous and outright laughable about Martyanovs comments is that probably well over half of Putins best buddies have done way worse than Vladlen. Yet Martyanov is a standard absolutely non critical Kremlin cheerleader. Tartarsky was just in it for the money you see but Gref, Miller and Abramovich are motivated by the legacy of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Alexander Nevsky admiral Kolchak with some Cherubashka thrown in.
Now when people like Strelkov or Murz go off about Tartarskys shady past and lack of pure intentions at least they are being consistent because they also have no time for the Kremlinites and their cheerleaders. There is no blatant hypocrisy involved. For Martyanov to get on a high horse over Tartarsky while acting like the Kremlin itself isnt infested by people ten times worse precludes anyone with any critical thinking facilities from taking Martyanov seriously.
I think Martyanov has lived in Florida for more than 30 years. Why would anyone think he knows shit about Russia?
"The Kremlin seems to be able to take care of its own though.
These two things are not the same."
You're thinking like a conspiracy theorist. Bravo!
Itโs is clear that the Kremlin had Vladlen Tartarsky kid, RIP. Even the pro Ukrainians on social media are pointing fingers to the Kremlin. Why canโt you admit it?
Kremlin elites care not for their misguided lapdogs, just more bloody gristle for the machine. That is why redpilled russians have no choice but to join Azov battalion... the demiurge ouroboros continues to eat his tail.
An Orthodox blogger killed in St Petersburg, but an optimist. Hmm.
Still fits my "cover to create 'Heavenly Jerusalem'" hypothesis. You heard about that one?
EDIT: I didn't create the hypothesis-- it just makes a lot of sense. Especially considering how Israel looks right now
Nothing is real any more...very Jesuitical and in lockstep with the traditional Communist Party goals...create chaos everywhere and anywhere...senseless killing...make us all crazy trying to figure it out....sorry to hear about this senseless death but the truth will probably never come out
As many people, particularly Black conservatives are waking up to reality here in the US, the hammer is really starting to come down...too late??
Thanks for elaborating on the players in this. How far down the rabbit hole are we when we're talking about both sides, including the victim's ostensible side, having reasons to kill this guy?
I must say Russia has had a lot of sand kicked in its face - better clip that coupon and order the Charles Atlas course.
First: the Anglo-Saxons avoided peace, in the beginning! There is influence by ukrainian oligarchs.
Ewald Stadler (watch on Bachheimer YT channel) as Paul Craig Roberts are right: the neocons and ukrainian criminals can only be stopped by hard means.
And I say: english is a germanic language, but it musn' t be an european one anymore.
If terror is the objective, then it would be the most unsuspecting "non-gangster gatekeeper dissident" whose violent death gives the pyschopaths more "bang for their buck." Proving no one is safe.
BBC "Darya Trepova detained over killing of pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky" https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65161095
Not worth ONE kremlinite fingernail.